Fintech

PLDT recently announced that its fintech arm will be offering financial services to unbanked Filipinos through a grassroots-based financial inclusion program called KasamaKA. Aside from services such as insurance, investment and savings, the program will also offer lending through a digital lending platform called Lendr. The company says that this should help wean Filipinos off their dependency on usurious informal lenders. Managing director Lito Villanueva said that FINTQ and Voyager Innovations will be intensively promoting the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and is aiming to include around 30 million Filipinos into the mainstream […]

Startups are disruptive by nature, and policymakers all over the world are scrambling to keep up with their relentless development. This failure to catch up with emerging technologies has resulted in some dramatic deadlocks, such as the much-publicized rift between Uber and the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB).1 After flouting driver accreditation rules, Uber was meted out a one month suspension and had to cough up a hefty Php190M fine to lift said suspension. The dispute was met with public outrage from Uber’s inconvenienced users,2 illustrating just how important startups have become in today’s world. Uber is just […]

Dubai’s Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and Australia’s Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) have recently entered into another agreement which aims to provide both regulators a better understanding of fintech innovations in each other’s jurisdictions. In addition to sharing of information and fostering support for fintech firms on both sides, the DFSA will also set up a number of initiatives including FinTech Hive accelerator program and the Dubai Future Accelerator where tech companies will be pairing with government organizations. The UAE had already partnered with ASIC back in July in an agreement that seeks to provide support to fintechs looking to […]

Brussels, Belgium – The European Commission is carrying out an investigation on Dutch and Polish banking associations for allegedly blocking access of financial technology services to customer account data. Last Monday, representatives from both associations confirmed that they were targeted by dawn raids by the Commission, who said that it would focus on finding out if banks and similar industry associations had abused their dominance. However, banking bodies from UK, Germany, and France said that they were not raided. Most fintech companies offer cryptocurrency-related services and mobile payment apps and have been snagging market share from traditional financial operators. Most […]

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) authority of Singapore and DBS Bank have officially launched a program that envisions to provide specialist technology skills to professionals in the banking sector. The co-developed program, Skills Enhancement and Education (SEED), was launched last week. The 12-month long training program focuses on Information Security, DevOps, and Infrastructure Development. It includes on-the-job training and the participation of industry leaders to aid in the better understanding on how banks operate in a digital environment. DBS aims to hire the best performers of the SEED program as the company’s future tech leaders. The SEED program is […]

Hong Kong is set to host its second annual FinTech Week in October of this year. According to the InvestHK, the event will focus on the driving forces that have propelled the country into a major financial technology hub. The the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government department added that participants will include Hong Kong regulators, private sector partners, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs. Some of the themes for this year will showcase Hong Kong’s efforts on raising funds, blockchain applications, AI, incubator and accelerator programs, as well as regulatory, insurance, and wealth management technology. Source: Xinhua Net

Last Sunday, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong discussed the state of e-payment adoption in his annual National Day Rally Speech. Lee revealed that despite being a well-connected, digitally literate society, majority of transactions in the country still use cash and cheques. He said the reason for this is the lack of interoperability between systems; consumers feel encumbered with carrying multiple cards and costs discourage businesses to carry multiple readers. Lee added that to help promote cashless payments, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has launched a single, unified POS terminal, as well as a peer-to-peer transfer service.. Source: ZDNet

Berlin, Germany – German direct bank N26 has reported acquiring 500,000 customers in Europe, which is an additional of 200,000 since March. The company also disclosed that they get around 1500 more customers each day. However, co-founder and CEO Valentin Stalf said that their growth is still 60% organic, and they are still planning to increase ads and branding efforts. At present, customers who sign up get a current account with a Mastercard, send and receive money with German IBAN, and make card purchases without foreign transaction fees. N26 is also in the process of adding more financial services including […]

Singapore — The Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) is collaborating closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to develop a financial technology (fintech) education hub for finance professionals. The CFTE was established in May to provide an education program for professionals in the ever-changing field of digital finance. Working with MAS also enables them to extend the platform to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where professionals can share more information and strategies. MAS chief fintech officer Sopnendu Mohanty stated that people are a vital resource for success in fintech. The initiative came following the increasing […]

London, England — According to news last Tuesday, Financial technology (fintech) funds have reached a notable record of US$5.2 billion in the second quarter. This is attributed to the rise of 26 ‘unicorn’ fintech startups that are worth US$1 or more, and 5 rookie firms reaching a significant development in the previous quarter. According to CB Insights, an estimated 251 international deals were made during Q2, which is a noticeable increase from last quarter’s 245 deals. These figures specifically cited fintech companies supported by venture-capital investments. As for Asia, the deals ramped up from 43 in Q1 to 67 in […]

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